Most Shared Stories Tagged: Northern Ireland

There's not previously been a legal abortion clinic on the Irish island. But this week, a new clinic opened in Belfast, Northern Ireland. While it won't provide surgical abortions, women who meet strict criteria can go there and get the abortion pill. The whole episode marks a change in Irish culture, but has still ignited protests.

The Irish language has often been viewed as a weapon by Irish Catholic and an enemy tongue by the country's Protestants. But no longer, if some Irish have their way. They're trying to reclaim the language for both sides, and take the politics out of it.

Controversial, belligerent and bigoted — those were some of the words used to describe the Reverend Ian Paisley, the Northern Irish political giant, after his death on Friday. Writer and filmmaker Jon Ronson spent a week making a documentary about Paisley and came away from it with respect for the man many hated.

Fertilizer is perhaps the most common ingredient in IEDs in Afghanistan, Iraq and has also been used in bombs in the United States and around the world. Scientists have tried for years to make ammonium nitrate fertilizer less detonable without success. Until now.

When Ashers Bakery Company refused to make a "pro-gay marriage" cake, it sparked a legal battle of the kind now familiar in the United States. Now a court has ruled in favor of the customer who brought the suit, but many people are unhappy with the ruling.

You'd think no one could possibly object to something as simple as free hugs. But that's not the case in Saudi Arabia. Plus, a boy who died 24,000 years ago has given clues to the origin of Native Americans in the US, and the Israeli government is struggling with the mafia. All that and more, in today's Global Scan.

Great Britain's Kelly Gallagher won Paralympics gold at the Sochi Winter Games, with a victory in the visually impaired super-G. The 28-year-old from Northern Ireland and her guide Charlotte Evans use a bluetooth device to communicate and stay within a ski's length of each other.